


Yeah, This is Trouble.

by Josaporta



Series: We're In Danger. [1]
Category: Bandom, Cobra Starship, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Multi, Pining, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-06
Updated: 2015-02-17
Packaged: 2018-02-19 19:30:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2400194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Josaporta/pseuds/Josaporta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Gabe Saporta is a Philosophy major enamored with some freshman who happens to be his roommate's best friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ignition.

**Author's Note:**

> Nothing explicit for a while, but the warning is there for later chapters.

“Fuck.” Gabe muttered as he finally face planted into bed. He had had a long, long day and wanted nothing to do with the waking world for the remainder of it. He’d woken up late for his first lecture of the year and had to scramble to get ready to go. That meant he hadn’t grabbed coffee or really taken the time to make himself look presentable. Instead of getting a nice inconspicuous seat in the middle, he’d slid into the back of the room sheepishly ten minutes late, fighting off a scowl when the professor had glared at him. Then some other kid a few rows up had turned to look at him. His eyes had seemed even more tired than Gabe’s, and it made him wonder if the kid had slept.

After that he’d been running late for everything. He’d tried to grab coffee at a stand, but the line had been too long so he’d abandoned that effort. He could have easily flirted his way to a free cup, but the _line_. He’d ditched that in favor of making it just barely on time to his next class. That was just filled with a boring introductory speech by the professor and then some first day notes. It was nothing spectacularly boring, but it wasn’t anything interesting either.

Then lunch had come and gone, and he’d finally gotten his coffee. He was using his next free couple of hours to go find Ryan to drag him to get food. He liked making sure that the other had eaten. He was too skinny and Gabe had weirdly maternal instincts toward him. He liked to take care of things, though, and that had always been true. It was like when he was a kid and he’d had pets that needed taking care of, except Ryan wasn’t a pet. He was more like an ungrateful, begrudgingly obedient son.

They’d met their freshman year when they’d both been taking their first English prerequisite together. College Composition had been one of the most boring classes either of them had ever taken, and they’d bonded over complaining about it while editing each other’s assignments. Ryan had loved Gabe’s use of purple prose to beef up his essays when they were lacking, and Gabe had appreciated the way Ryan took a stranger view on things. Ryan used too many metaphors, even for a Lit major, and in the beginning it had annoyed Gabe to the point where he often edited them down. He had a better appreciate for them now, though, and for Ryan himself. He was probably one of Gabe’s very few real friends and he liked having him around.

They weren’t rooming together this year, unlike the previous year. Instead they’d both ended up with freshman roommates to deal with. They’d gotten the unlucky straws in that, and there had been just enough of an overflow with them that they’d gotten mixed into the dorms for the veteran campus goers. It was a better turn around for the school, though. It meant more money and hopefully better reputation.

Gabe still wasn’t sure why he’d chosen to go to school in Ohio, of all places. He’d mostly wanted a change of scenery and it had been cheaper than going to somewhere like LA. He was riding nicely on scholarship money and supplemented his income by saving up whatever he earned working over the summers back home in Jersey. It was pretty easy and he didn’t really do too much, considering he could flirt his way to getting anything almost for free. That was actually kinda great.

His bed was even better, though, and soft and perfect. It was so nice to just be able to drop down onto it in the quiet while his roommate wasn’t there. Josh was an alright guy, but he tended to mutter to himself in whatever language he was trying to teach himself that week. It got a little confusing, especially considering Gabe had yet to hear something he could recognize. It was usually something like-- he think Josh mentioned Korean once or twice. Maybe. It was something like that. He didn’t know how he’d managed to get the freshman roommate, but at least he wasn’t terrible. So far. There was always the chance that he turned out to actually be annoying, but it’d only been a week and things weren’t so bad.

Josh wasn’t actually there that often. He would always dart out mentioning Jenna or Mark or Tyler and that would be all Gabe saw of him until the next day, usually after class. He appreciated that Josh took his social life elsewhere, even if it made the room a little too quiet. At least he didn’t have a gaggle of dumb freshmen in his room. Josh didn’t seem to much like the type to party after talking to him, but Gabe honestly hadn’t been expecting much just by looking at him. He kind of scream punk in that regard. It was probably just the pink mohawk and the labret. That would do it to really describe Josh’s aesthetic. But he was like a giant kitten, all warm and friendly, full of eternal sunshine. It was a weird way to come off but if it worked for him then Gabe wasn’t gonna judge too much.

All in all, he felt like he’d lucked out with Josh. He was the best thing Gabe could have asked for out of a not so ideal situation. He had the tendency to drum on things a bit, but he’d been up front and warned Gabe about that first off, so he knew to call him on it and he’d stop. The guy was just rhythmic or something, apparently, and Gabe found he didn’t really mind all that much. He was still content.

He was alone in the room for the time being, and that meant he was going to sneak in some sleep after a too long day. His bed was extra soft because of the six inches of foam he’d shoved between the sheets and the mattress, and he was finally comfortable. The bedding was still freshly cleaned and smelled faintly of the fabric softener he used. This was the best way to lull himself to sleep, the perfect start to a good night after a day like today.

So of course, that was when Josh walked in, someone else in tow.

“I don’t know if Gabe is here but-- oh.” He looked up from where his face was smashed into the pillows, doing his best to glare at Josh and his friend. He faintly recognized him from somewhere, but he couldn’t really place him, and Gabe thought he looked even more tired than he felt, which was an accomplishment in and of itself. “Sorry, dude, we can go if you’re sleeping.”

“No.” Gabe rolled his eyes, hefting himself up out of his blanket nest of comfort, and scrubbed a hand through his hair. “It’s fine, I was just thinking I should get started on some things anyway.” He lied easily, but Josh’s friend looked at him like he saw right through that.

“Okay, cool. This is Tyler, by the way.” Josh gestured to ‘skinny with tired eyes’ and Gabe got a wave. It seemed like that was all he’d get, too, because they immediately launched back into whatever conversation they’d been having before they walked in. They both spoke animatedly and Tyler’s voice was much softer than Gabe had been expecting.

The topic was which were cuter, rabbits or cats, so Gabe just zoned out from there. All he got out of it was that Tyler was on the side of the rabbits and Josh was a cat person. He probably could have pegged that himself, but he still wasn’t really friends with Josh. They were acquainted because they lived together, but they weren’t friends. Gabe’s real friends were actually few and far between. He’d left most of them at home in Jersey, and here he only really had Ryan and then a couple other people that were more there for convenience than anything. For as much of a dick as he was, and how much of a ‘definite philosophy major’ as Ryan put it, he was a people person, and it helped to have people around.

It wasn’t until they started getting louder that Gabe tuned back into their conversation. He’d been more focused on reading this assignment and trying to figure out what the fuck the professor wanted than on his roommate and his friend. He’d missed them dragging out the old Nintendo 64 that Gabe had side eyed Josh for on the first day they moved in together and were playing… Mario Kart? Gabe frowned, angling a little better to see what they were doing. He didn’t really wanna be too obvious, but. He kind of had to see this. He hadn’t been expecting them to be the types to drag out an ancient gaming system and sit around in sweats playing it. Josh’s friend looked more like the brooding, emo type.

“Dude, no fair you can’t blue shell me!” Skinny shouted suddenly, making Gabe’s fingers twitch. He hadn’t expected anything more than the speaking tones or the uncommitted little half greeting from him but apparently he did have a louder voice.

“Watch me, Ty. Just watch me.” Josh’s tone was smug and self satisfied. Gabe just rolled his eyes, trying to get back to his work without too much of a distraction.

That was a lost cause. The next moment they were wrestling.

How the fuck had they gone from Mario Kart to wrestling.

“Holy shit, you children, shut the fuck up.” He snapped after a minute. Josh and skinny froze, looking up at him like they’d only just remembered he was there. They probably had. Dicks.

“Sorry, Gabe.” Josh said quickly. His friend’s face had turned dark and challenging fast and Gabe had a feeling that he was trying to compensate for it. Skinny really didn’t seem all that pleasant and it looked like Gabe’s good semester with a mostly quiet roommate had just been ruined by some kid who already looked exhausted.

“We weren’t being unnecessarily loud or disruptive and I doubt that that assignment is due within the next forty-eight hours so you can hop off of us now, dude.”

Gabe gaped unattractively at that. Josh had a very similar reaction.

“TYLER.” Skinny’s eyes narrowed as Josh scolded him and pushed him back into the floor where he’d been sprawled out under Josh. “Dude. You’re being nice remember?”

“Being nice.” Gabe’s tone was flat, unimpressed.

“Josh thinks I have a tendency to be defensively mean.” Tyler leaned up onto his elbows and Gabe was pretty sure he and Josh were gonna kiss, if not for the fact that Tyler was still glaring at Gabe and Josh was desperately trying to push his face and get him to stop.

“Well he hasn’t been wrong so far.”

“Don’t be a dick.”

“Could say the same to you.” Gabe watched Tyler’s eyes narrowed and then Josh shoved him again, using the distraction to his advantage.

“Sorry, Gabe! We’ll just. Get out of your hair for now. Tyler’s had a rough morning. Right, Ty?” They exchanged a look and Gabe would have laughed if he didn’t think Tyler looked a little like a serial killer, glaring like that.

“No, just find your chill and shut up.” He huffed a little bit, watching as Josh pushed Tyler down onto the floor and nudged the Nintendo away with his foot.

“We can do that. Right, Ty?”

“Yeah.” He didn’t sound too committed to actually doing it, but he sort of deflated. All of the tension bled out of him and Gabe rose a brow at that. These two guys were doing nothing that he could really put a finger on and he wasn’t sure how he felt about it. Josh seemed to have reigned Tyler in, though, and they muttered between themselves quietly for a moment. Josh leaned down in close to do it and Gabe was half tempted to tell them to get a room, but they were already in one and he didn’t want to encourage anything.

He watched them for a long moment as they got comfortable, Tyler tucked up against Josh and Gabe had that feeling like he was watching a couple interact again. It wasn’t like he was trying to watch them, but the sounds of the show they were watching would be distracting if he kept listening. He had a horrible tendency to pay more attention to the background noise of something instead of what he was supposed to be doing.

He could let it slip for a little bit, but they were starting to talk about it by the time he really tried to get back into his assignment. Awesome. Great.

“What the fuck are you watching.” He asked, turning back to them from where he’d been working at his desk again instead of paying attention.

“Misfits, asshole.” Of course it was Skinny who answered. Of course.

“What the fuck is that.” He watched him look over Josh’s shoulder and glare at him, and it was an odd sort of thrill to rile him up.

“British comedy drama thing. Stop asking question. We stopped dicking around so you can stop being a dick.”

“It’s distracting. Turn it off, find headphones, leave. I don’t care just pick one so I can do this.” He wasn’t even really that invested in the work, but he wanted an excuse to make them shut up after Skinny had been so aggravating.

He turned his attention away once they were settled, Netflix playing out of the pair of earbuds they were sharing. It kind of made him miss having someone.

Whatever, he’d just make Ryan cuddle later.

It was finally quiet when he started working again, and he let himself get lost in it. It was easier than he’d expected, now that the super bros were subdued. He was still reeling from Skinny’s reaction. He couldn’t believe that some freshman kid had the gall to mouth him like that. He wouldn’t even have clocked him for the type to be so snippy. Well, maybe that snippy, but not actually that vocal about it. He wondered if he was always like that or if he was just especially aggravating to him.

He got another good hour and a half of mostly pretending to work in before Josh came up to him quietly and tapped him on the shoulder. Gabe wanted to be mad, but he’d calmed down from earlier. He looked over to see Ty out cold on the bed and a little burst of jealousy flared up. Lucky bastard got to sleep and he didn’t and it was his fault.

“Hey, I’m gonna wake Ty up and grab dinner. We’re probably gonna get Taco Bell, do you want anything?” At least he didn’t get too much sleep.

“No thanks. I had dinner plans with my friend.” He lied smoothly. He didn’t really want to turn away the free food, but maybe if he did they wouldn’t come back to the room to eat.

“Alright, dude. I’ll catch you later, then. Good luck on your stuff and sorry about Ty. He’s.” Josh just made a face, clearly trying to find a way to describe him. “He’s a handful and still pretty new to people.”

“The pity party for your friend isn’t actually necessary.” It didn’t really endear Gabe to either of them. Josh’s face hardened, though, and Gabe had never thought he’d get to see something akin to anger flash across his expression. It was interesting in the same way that he’d just pissed off a tiger, and he belatedly realized that Josh was actually pretty fit. Maybe it wasn’t best to insult someone’s best friend-- boyfriend?-- when they were at the perfect level to deck him in the face.

“It’s not pity.” His voice was hard and Gabe knew he’d fucked up a little bit there, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care that much. They were just some dumb freshmen and after this year he wouldn’t even have to worry about them anymore.

Maybe he’d look into housing and try to swap rooms with Ryan’s roommate. He was sure Josh would like some fellow, immature kid to fuck around with that wasn’t his friend.

“I don’t care, just be fucking quiet if he comes back with you.” Gabe tried hard not to scowl, because he did kind of like Josh. His friend was bordering on a deal breaker, though.

Very heavily bordering.

Josh nodded, turning away sharply and Gabe paused his music so he could listen to their conversation. Call him morbidly curious, but he wanted to see if they ended up saying anything.

“Hey, Ty.” Josh’s voice was soft, a stark contrast to the tone he’d just used on Gabe. It was gentle and if Gabe turned he was pretty sure he’d see Josh cupping his face.

He was pretty sure they were fucking.

“Mmff.” Tyler made a noise, and he really shouldn’t have been that deeply asleep for just having taken like an hour nap, but it seemed like maybe he’d been more exhausted than he’d let on. The tired eyes should have been a give away, but Gabe had been more focused on arguing with him.

“Taco Bell, Ty.” Josh’s voice was smiling and, god, that was kind of nauseating.

“I’m up, I’m up.” He heard the bed creak, and Josh laugh, and then quiet. He wasn’t sure he wanted to look in case they were finally kissing, so he shook his head, muttering to himself in Spanish. “Dude.” Tyler’s voice was louder that time, and Gabe realized belatedly that it was directed at him. “Shut up, Taco Bell is the best.”

It took him a second, but Gabe realized that they must have heard him. And Tyler apparently knew enough Spanish to call him on that. Just fucking great.

“How do you even speak Spanish if you like Taco Bell.” He snipped instead.

“I took five years of Spanish with Josh. He’s a linguistics major.” Tyler said as if it was the most obvious thing. Josh’s smile was oddly amused but laced with protectiveness. Gabe would have to tread carefully. He was bigger and built, but Josh looked like he hit things for a living.

“I fucking knew you guys were like childhood best friends or something, god. That’s so lame.” He pretended to complain instead. Honestly, he’d have continued to peg them as boyfriends, but maybe best friends since birth worked, too. Tyler just rolled his eyes.

“C’mon, bird brain. I said tacos so we could leave and you could stop antagonizing my roommate.” Josh was still teasing, and Tyler’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

Gabe was pretty sure he’d been a serial killer in a past life. Jesus.

“Yeah, yeah. Okay.” Tyler finally rolled up and out of bed, and Gabe waited until they were gone at last to look back at his bed. It didn’t seem like Josh was going to be bringing Tyler back, but he didn’t know how long he’d have before just Josh came back. If he even did. There had already been two nights out of the week that they’d been here that Josh hadn’t slept in the room, and Gabe had the sneaking suspicion that maybe he just crept into Tyler’s bed at night.

Either way, it was far too tempting to get into bed again. Now that he didn’t have to keep up the pretense of working to scope out Josh’s friends, he could relax back into his mattress and sleep for the nap he’d missed out on and Tyler had gotten instead. He was a little bitter about that, but he could deal with it, because now it was his turn to--

Fuck, was that his phone.

He got up, huffing angrily and checked his phone. It was a text from Ryan asking if he wanted to get food.

Goddamn it, Karma.

He groaned, tempted to say no but knowing better. Ryan would just get pissy and then Gabe would have to deal with a roommate whose friend hated him and his only friend making passive aggressive remarks about sleep for a week. He was not about that life, so he rolled up out of bed and scrubbed a hand through his hair. He could deal with looking less than his best. He wasn’t trying to impress anyone. He texted Ryan to meet him there and all he got back in return was a k. Goddamn it, Ryan knew he hated that.

The walk over was short, and it wasn’t even like it was far away. Ten minutes tops, walking at his pace. His legs were good for that with how long they were and since he didn’t have to match pace with anyone he never broke stride. It was a pretty nice evening, still, and the night seemed to actually be looking up this time.

“Hey.” He greeted when he got there, immediately stepping up to his shorter friend and clapping him on the shoulder. He liked to emphasize the height difference because there was only one person he knew taller than him and it made him feel a little bigger than everyone else in the metaphorical sense. He liked the ego boost.

“Hey Gabe. How was your day because if you’re still irritable I need to know before I let you near the bar.” If Gabe didn’t know Ryan better, he’d probably have smacked him upside the head for that, but he knew it was mostly joking.

“Been getting worse since the morning, Rossy. Take pity on me, my roommate finally brought home a friend and I’m pretty sure they’re fucking.”

“That’s rough, dude. At least mine isn’t the most intolerable person in the universe.”

“Lucky.” Gabe still smiled as they went in, though, following the hostess back when she waved them over for two. At least this way he’d get better food than he would trying to find something on campus. They settled in and fell into easy conversation with Ryan talking mostly about his first day of classes and how there was only one other interesting dude in his current Lit course. He was some guy who spoke animatedly about the things they were taking, who happened to be his roommate.

Gabe interjected with at least Ryan got along with his. Very well if the pleased look on his face was anything to go by. He was glad that Ryan had someone who wouldn’t get sick of him being an emo little shit within a week. People tended to be put off by a lot of his habits and interests, but by the sound of the guy, Ryan seemed pretty content with his arrangement. Gabe would have been with his too if not for this afternoon. Now he would have to worry about tension between him and Josh whenever Skinny was over. He’d already forgotten the kid’s name he was so done with him.

It was good from there, though. Gabe got something off of the vegetarian section and Ryan side eyed him while he got messy wings and ended up with them all over his face. Again. It was familiar and companionable and Gabe remembered fondly why Ryan was his best friend. He always managed to make him feel better, because they could just be pretentious assholes together and it was great.

They didn’t say goodbye until an hour after they’d eaten, both still nursing the time because they always forgot how well they got along. It was a great friendship, but they both had morning classes and after a while the waitresses got impatient with their more drink orders and their lack of food. Gabe left an extra nice tip for their trouble.

He got back to his room after eleven, and apparently Josh had brought Skinny back with him. They were both out cold in bed, tangled up in each other. Gabe was very grateful that the room didn’t smell like they’d fucked or he’d have just walked right back out and gone to Ryan’s. As it was, he just stripped out of his clothes all but for his boxers and crawled back into bed, glad there wouldn’t be any more distractions.

His last thought before he fell asleep was that today was adding up to suggest a very long semester.

Goddamn it.


	2. Clear.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabe isn't sure how he feels about this, but he's pretty sure it's mostly annoyed.

It was still the tail end of summer, and that meant that the weather still had the potential to be unbelievably hot. The drastic change seemed so out of place, but then everyone who was actually from Ohio didn’t seem at all bothered. In fact, most of them had come prepared for sudden climate change. It was still full of tranquil mornings, sweltering afternoons, and hot evenings to sit in the cooler, air conditioned dorms. The skies were still warm and bright, the clouds white and puffy, and the sun still rose a little before seven in the morning. Gabe, however, did not. Under any circumstances.

His first class was set too early at eight-thirty. He only got that time slot because someone had tried to tell him that getting himself on a somewhat nine to five schedule was a good idea. It wasn’t. He was going to kill whoever had suggested it to him, actually, because he couldn’t stand being up this early. Especially after a night of drinking, but he hadn’t really done much of that last night. The idiots in the bed over might have, because it had been the third night since the first that Josh’s friend had slept there that they’d ended up in this dorm instead of someone else’s. Being up this early, though, only made him irritable and put him in a worse than usual mood. But it was time to get up, so he begrudgingly dragged himself out of bed.

He glanced over to where Josh and, presumably, his friend were only to see one lump in the mattress. He usually tried to be quiet and considerate about being up so early, but he hadn’t been expecting the skinny one to be gone already. The thought had occurred to him to make a little more noise than usual in order to finally get payback for the time when he’d been trying to nap last week and they’d been too loud and too annoying to let him. Maybe the friend wasn’t all bad, though, because at least he’d come and gone without waking Gabe.

He got to the shower first, glad for having the early class just for this reason. There usually weren’t terribly many other people up this early. There were enough for there to be traffic, but he didn’t mind people seeing him half naked anyway. If he did, he wouldn’t be half as confident as he was. It was just easier to shower in the morning then not have to worry unless he ended up working out sometime throughout the day. In the mornings he usually had first dibs on hot water, though. That was something he’d been taking a lot of advantage of. So he used as much of it as he liked during his shower, and then got out to go back to his room to finish getting dressed. He’d have to hurry up just a little if he still wanted to get coffee and to get to the seat he’d picked for himself in the middle of the room, but he’d be fine.

The rest of his routine was easy. Get dressed, teeth, spend too much time on his hair but look great for it. It was just timing it so that it all worked out perfectly, which it seemed to be going toward this morning, and for that he was eternally grateful. The walk there was nice, and he knew that he’d dressed appropriately for this stupid ass Ohio weather just by looking around at the people that were from the state. They always knew the weather patterns better, and he was still smiling as he walked up to get coffee. It was all going off without a hitch and this was such a rare occurrence that he wanted to savor it. He took his time flirting his way to better coffee at the cheaper price, lazily sipping at it on his walk to class.

He was glad that they’d had Monday off, at least, for whatever holiday it had been-- Labor Day, maybe-- but it was the second week of school and that usually meant that it was time for people to stop dropping the classes after trying them out to see if it was for them or not, so he was excited to see who’d stuck around in his morning class. Hopefully it was few enough students that he wouldn’t be too bothered by any of them and their opinions. He’d had a class with another student last year that had ended in a spectacular fight, sparked by a debate match. It wasn’t something he liked to think back on, because it was the one tarnish in his otherwise upstanding record. That was just how he liked the keep the official things, though. The administration didn’t need to know that he partied hard and fucked a lot of people, as long as his grades and public image were good.

It was still blissfully empty when Gabe got there, and he slid right into his seat. He’d claimed it because of the weird spacing and the extra leg room he ended up with. He needed it with how tall he was and he really didn’t want to sit in the front just to fit. So he’d taken the easily convenient seat, settled in with his stuff and sipped his coffee. He still had ten minutes before class officially started and more people were filtering in. Not as many had dropped as he’d expected, but it seemed like it had thinned out a little bit. There was one kid that he didn’t really pay attention to that almost always slunk in right as class was about to start clutching coffee and in a too big black hoodie that he hadn’t expected to last, but he was a little impressed that he had.

Class started slowly, more note taking on famous philosophers, just to get the basics down. It was technically a class that Gabe should have done a while ago, but he’d switched majors once he figured out that he didn’t really want to go into business. He wasn’t the type for it, and he’d needed a major to really stay in school, so he’d just picked the best one he could think of without being an English major like Ryan. Sure, he was charismatic enough to be a businessman, but there was no fun in that, and at least this actually held his interest. He could take all the prerequisites at once and since he’d gotten core classes out of the way earlier. That way he’d already be in the next year by next semester. It was foolproof and he was looking forward to kind of working the system to his favor.

Sure, there were still some classes that he hadn’t taken that he’d have to now. He’d gotten everything math out of the way, but there were history classes to take now, a few science and psychology based courses. He’d thought it looked easier than the course plan suggested, but he was sticking with it. He didn’t want to end up going to school for ten years with no major in sight and just taking things to take things. He wanted a degree in something that he could hopefully use in the future, and philosophy was cool. It worked. He’d knocked out all the general education classes and ended up with an eight-thirty am Political and Social Philosophy course.

It wasn’t the worst of his classes, but it did tend to be a little slow. Everyone was still sluggish, it seemed, no matter how early they woke up. Gabe was pretty alright with that, though. It meant that he got what were probably the best notes as long as he woke up early enough, and that he could talk over everyone once they actually started discussing anything important. He kind of hated that he was stuck in a class full of freshmen and people who had switched late, just like him, because he’d have much rather been in a group of people that were just closer to his age. Maybe he was just being a prick, but he thought that the older the students got, the more mature and less dickish they got. The thought of Josh’s skinny friend popped up at that, and he frowned. Maybe a little too obviously because the professor looked at him sharply a moment later. Oh well. He could deal with that.

The lecture dragged on, and his notes slowly got less attentive. Instead, he focused on a sound he couldn’t identify. It wasn’t someone taking notes on their laptop, or in a notebook. It was a different sort of noise, and he couldn’t place it. He looked around, eyes finally landing on the kid in the back in the black sweatshirt, hood pulled up over his head and obscuring his face. Gabe was pretty sure it was the same kid that had looked impossibly tired that first day, and now he wasn’t even paying attention. What the hell was his problem? If he didn’t want to be there, then he didn’t have to be. Gabe scowled again, turning back around.

It took a few minutes for it to register, but he recognized the sounds. He was playing fucking Flappy Bird.

Seriously. Seriously?

He couldn’t believe that shit.

Whatever. He zoned out of the kid in the back for the rest of class, steadfastly ignoring the weird temptation to look back and glare and instead pouring all of his focus into actual note taking. It wasn’t anything that he was completely unfamiliar with, but high school had been the last time he’d really breezed through philosophers and that had been a long time ago, now. But he didn’t like thinking about that because it made him feel old. Not that twenty-one was really old, per se, but it was older than it seemed. At least now he could buy his own drinks legally. Even if he kind of missed the little bit of a thrill he got from having to fake his way into buying it or stealing it. It had always been that or having someone buy him drinks.

Why was he reminiscing about being younger during a lecture?

He would blame the kid in back that had sparked his irritation. He glanced back toward the end, finding him already packed up before the professor was really finished talking. She didn’t even seem irritated by it, and he paused to wonder why. It wasn’t like they’d had any spectacular assignments to turn in yet, so he couldn’t have absolutely wowed her into getting away with murder, so what had it been?

Gabe was curious, but also really didn’t want to care.

He did have a nice mouth, though, from what Gabe could see. Even if the hood of the guy’s sweatshirt was drooped over his face for the most part as he tucked his chin in and maybe pretended to sleep. Gabe had an eye for that sort of thing, though. It was a game called “find the most attractive person in the room and get laid with no strings attached” and it was working swimmingly for him so far.

Okay but seriously, why was he so distracted by this weirdo in the back? He’d missed something at the front, damn it.

This little slip up of the possibly cute one in class and the fact that Josh and his friend were kind of annoying both had him dreading the mornings for the entire semester already. Maybe he would look harder into getting Ryan’s roommate to switch with him. He was sure Josh was personable to get along with anyone. Especially looking at his ‘best friend’ because damn, that guy had some problems. Or maybe just a problem with Gabe.

He almost didn’t like that, but it wasn’t really in his plan to care about that either. He just wanted to do something with his funding and finish school and maybe fuck around and party some more before he finally got out of here to find a job or go to grad school. One or the other would work and whichever came first and came easiest would be what he would do.

He’d stopped paying attention again. Fuck. They were packing up now and he flashed the professor a kind, if somewhat apologetic smile, before he packed up his own things to go.

When he looked behind him, the kid in the back was already long gone.

 

* * *

Gabe came back to his room to the unsurprising sounds of voices. What was surprising, though, were the number of them. And that one was girl’s. He’d been pretty convinced that Josh and his friend had been lying about having other friends, and about not fucking but that was beside the point. He opened the door and found himself faced with the oddest looking group of people he’d seen in quite some time. There was Josh, who was pretty punk outwardly, and his skinny friend, but then two others. The other guy had a weird nose and reddish hair, and he dressed like Josh, so he could see that. But the girl… She was the outlier.

Frankly, she was kind of gorgeous. She was tan and blonde and when she smiled at him from across the room, she had these striking blue eyes. The most startling part of the whole scene was how she was curled into Josh’s friend’s lap. His arms were wound around her waist, chin on her shoulder. He hadn’t expected him to be the touchy feely type with anyone but maybe, maybe Josh, but this girl was apparently another one of his exceptions. Something settled into his stomach at that. It was a little uncomfortable and a little heavy, but he couldn’t quite place the feeling. It wasn’t something that he was really familiar with and that seemed to be happening more often than not recently.

He was brought back to his revelation that this was going to be a very aggravating semester.

“Hi, Gabe!” The girl greeted. Her voice was bright and she was the opposite of what he thought would be any of their types. She was dressed in shorts that were very short and a loose floral shirt that he was pretty sure was the friend’s.

“Hi?” He asked, just registering that she’d known his name. Huh.

“Wanna come join us? We’re watching Misfits and I’m sure we could get Ty to behave.” Ty. Ty was his friend’s name that was right. Apparently the group had been talking about him, and talking about him and “Ty” fighting. That was a weird thought and it was another thing that he wasn’t sure how well it sit with him.

“No, I have a paper to write.” He lied easily. Ty looked up at him sharply. It was something accusatory and he wondered what had gotten his panties in a bunch. It wasn’t like he’d insulted him yet.

“You do not.” His voice was quieter this time, softer and rougher. He wondered if he’d just gotten laid or just woken up. He wasn’t sure what his type was, though, so he couldn’t really tell which of his three friends he’d probably banged. Maybe the girl, since she seemed so chipper in a room with all that emo.

Oh, god, he hoped they weren’t all sleeping together.

He quickly wiped that thought from his mind, realizing belatedly that Ty had just called him on that.

“How do you know?” He snapped, looking at him unimpressed.

“You’re a Philosophy major, right? We don’t have any papers due yet.”

… We. Gabe had heard that right. He’d said we.

Oh, fuck no.

“We?” His eyes narrowed, dangerous and challenging.

“Wow, you think you’re the only Philosophy major.” Ty’s voice was sharp and cutting but still somehow soft. It was a strange juxtaposition that left him a little confused because his voice shouldn’t have been able to be all those things at once. He scowled.

“No. No, no, no. You’re not a Philosophy major.” He ground out, suddenly far more annoyed than usual with the skinny little fuck. “You’re a fucking obnoxious freshman, no.”

“An obnoxious freshman who is a Philosophy major.” He sounded so smug and it made Gabe’s blood boil a little. But it was interesting, because he was pretty sure he’d have run into him at some point if they were both sharing a major, considering there weren’t terribly many time slots for things open. Maybe he just filled out all of the other ones that Gabe didn’t and the rest of his Gen Ed classes filled the gaps.

“You’re a disgrace to the program.” Gabe’s voice was still snappish, but he’d lost a little bit of the venom. He was curious as to how this kid who seemed more like a bro than anything else could get along in a program like that. He didn’t really think there could be that much more to him, as shitty as that sounded, but it was true. He was pretty unimpressed with all of them so far, and the only real outstanding thing seemed to be how out of place the girl seemed among the boys.

“That is the worst thing I’ve ever heard someone say, you dick.”

“Tyler!” The girl snapped before Gabe could get another word in. Josh and the other guy were snickering to themselves. Dicks.

“Sorry, sorry, Jenna.” Tyler muttered out quickly, running a hand down her arm placatingly. Gabe was a little nauseated and pretty sure they were together. Which only added into the disturbing through from earlier that they were all together, because he’d seen Tyler far more touchy feely with Josh already. In their boxers.

He was pretty sure he’d just been assigned a poly roommate with three partners.

Usually he wouldn’t have a problem with that but. Skinny. was so. aggravating.

He should probably try to not get so hung up on that.

“What, no apology for me?” He crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes at Skinny again.

“Nah, no apology for dicks.” Gabe did not miss the way Jenna pinched Tyler’s side. He winced and scowled. “Fine. Sorry. Do you wanna watch this with us?” Her smile was so triumphant.

“No, I don’t wanna do anything with your little group.” He muttered, grabbing his bag back up. He could go hide in Ryan’s room while these guys did-- he did not want to think about that, never mind.

“You don’t have to leave!” Josh finally piped up, detangling himself from the funny looking one that wasn’t Skinny. They were all laying all over each other in some way, strewn across the floor at the foot of Josh’s bed. It was weird.

Maybe they were just good friends.

Probably not.

“No? Are you actually going to be quiet this time because you and Skinny can never seem to shut up when you’re together.” He spoke over Skinny and Blondie’s voices.

“Skinny--?” Tyler was quiet and huffy.

“Tyler hush, Josh is convincing Gabe to stay.” Blondie’s tone was so admonishing. Damn, they were all whipped.

“Dude, we’re watching Misfits again. We’ll be quieter, especially since Jen is here.” Josh’s tone was a little pleading, and Gabe was more than a little suspicious of that. There had to be some form of ulterior motives for them getting him to stay. Maybe they wanted him in on it. Freaky.

He really wished he wasn’t as interested, suddenly. He’d have to mentally talk himself out of that one for a few days.

“Misfits is that lame ass British show that you were watching last time, isn’t it?” He asked instead. He didn’t really wanted to bring up how they were all whipped in case the weird looking one finally spoke up that, yeah, they were. He really didn’t need that much information on any of that. “Pass.”

“Dude, no. I think you’d love Nathan.”

“Josh, I really have this pretend paper to write so--”

“You can have some of the food out of my mini fridge for the entire week and I’ll buy you a good snack. Hang out with us. C’mon, it gets stale with just Jen and Mark.”

“Wow, dude. Rude.” It was weird to finally have them all talking. He hoped it didn’t invite them all into conversation. He didn’t know how well he could handle all four of them talking at him at once. He could barely handle Josh and Skinny without getting annoyed.

At least Blondie and Weirdo were probably fine on their own, like Josh. Skinny just drove him up a fucking wall.

“Fine.” He conceded after a long moment. Ryan didn’t actually want to hang out today anyway. He was busy mooning after some new guy. He wasn’t sure what his name was, but Gabe had been listening to him wax poetic for the last couple of days about one of the guys in his favorite English class that he actually got along with. There was some other kid he was kind of friends with, too, but Gabe didn’t really hear about him too often.

“Dude, sick!” Josh’s face was bright and excited and Gabe wondered how anyone could really say no to that face. It was like a puppy, cute and open and friendly. But Josh was definitely a cat person, and he and Skinny had spent the better part of their last encounter here discussing that. So he was a kitten, but that didn’t roll together quite as nicely as him and puppy face seemed to. He was excitable and when Gabe finally dropped his bag again, he was pretty sure Josh actually fist pumped.

What the hell.

Josh lead him over, and it was kind of strangely easy to fall into place among these strangers. The weird looking one had moved over, and there was suddenly space between Josh and Skinny to sit. That felt like weird holy ground, though, and he wasn’t sure if it was an intentional rift so that he could fit himself in there for some sort of initiation, or if Skinny just hadn’t gotten the memo and moved with them yet. Gabe looked them over carefully before he actually settled into the space. He was almost immediately squished on both sides.

Blondie had shifted in Skinny’s lap, throwing her legs over all of the boys and effectively locking him into place with some weird, rollercoaster-esque bullshit. Josh reached his arms back and ended up with one awkwardly raised next to Gabe’s head and the other holding it up. He looked like he was trying to do a stretch that just wasn’t working out for him, but he didn’t seem uncomfortable, so he held the position. He probably did it longer than Gabe could have, but it seemed like that was just from him working out.

He’d seen the guy shirtless. Recently, his abs were almost better than Gabe’s.

Almost.

That left Skinny and Weirdo on the edges, mostly. Weirdo-- Mark, he should probably learn their names-- had aligned himself back up with Josh. He sat cross-legged rather than outstretched like the rest of them, fiddling with his phone in his lap more than he paid any attention to the show. He seemed like he’d seen it enough times to dismiss it, at least, if the way he mouthed along with certain phrases was anything to go by.

Skinny was the strangest. For a long while, at least an episode of confusing, convoluted plot and references to other episodes that Gabe just didn’t understand, he just sat there, stiff and straight. Jenna seemed to be quietly calming Skinny down from whatever had him so tense, and it did cross Gabe’s mind that he was the cause. He wasn’t sure how bothered Tyler really was by that, considering all of the grief they’d already put him through and were going to continue to put him through until one of them could move. Eventually she had the skinny one relaxed enough that he wasn’t stiff as a board.

It was a nice change, to see him relax a little in a way that wasn’t so loud. He was quiet, and his face was soft. Gabe didn’t really know why he cared to look, but it was still something that had been surprisingly pleasant, rather than him going back to being the current bane of Gabe’s existence.

That sounded much more dramatic than he’d meant but. It worked.

It wasn’t long before Jenna and Josh started tag teaming him, filling him in on little details he’d missed out on in the show as it went by. This entire situation ended up being nicer than Gabe anticipated. Sure, he was squashed between the two people who probably annoyed him the most at the moment, but it wasn’t necessarily bad. Skinny was quiet, and eventually he slotted his leg up next to Gabe’s. He took it as a quiet sign of the smaller’s approval of him being there, when Gabe had thought he’d be the least accepting, considering how much they fought.

And that was how Gabe ended up sandwiched into a group of people that he didn’t really know, watching a show he’d never seen, and eating snacks and drinking soft drinks that weren’t his.

It wasn’t bad, and maybe it meant that this wouldn’t be the most terrible living arrangement after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm actually from Ohio so trust me on the weather it's terrible and moody as hell.
> 
> Also these chapters almost had Neon Trees titles instead because Sleeping With A Friend is the Josaporta anthem but nah.


	3. Slowtown.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabe takes a while to catch up to speed.

Gabe was wrong. He was very, very wrong. This was not going to be as easy, or as difficult, as he’d assumed. Once he’d opened himself up to the possibility of friendship between him and Josh’s crew, they wouldn’t leave him alone. And now he knew their names. That was honestly more than he’d ever wanted to know about the people who usually invaded his room to keep him up too late or to be too loud while he was trying to work. He knew they weren’t intentionally annoying, but the point still stood. They were being ridiculous and he didn’t know if he had it in him to yell at them anymore because now he was kind of used to the noise.

He liked it. It was less lonely with the room full of sound and people than it was when it was just him. When Josh went out with his friends instead of all of the piling into the room he shared, it felt too big, too empty. Plus, Gabe had learned pretty well to tune them out. So as annoying as they were, he liked them. He wasn’t going to admit it, but he did. Mark was cool. He was always taking pictures and he was just as weird as Gabe had pegged him for in the beginning.

It had taken a full month of them invading his room, but he’d finally warmed up to them. Jenna wasn’t so bad, if a bit motherly. But it just seemed that she and Josh tag teamed taking care of Tyler. Gabe still wanted to just call him skinny in his head. It seemed so much easier than giving a name to the one person that seemed to have it out for him. All they did was fight like cats and dogs. Recently it’d been about philosophers. Gabe had to admit that Skinny could hold his own in a debate, but it kind of made him hate him more. They hadn’t even started in class debates yet and this kid was pretty much schooling him. He would never admit that under penalty of death, but.

They sat in the room Gabe shared with Josh more often than not and just shouted at each other from across the room. It had come to the point that they could be doing other things first and foremost and they still had the ability to yell at each other. Gabe usually started by remarking on something stupid someone had said, and Tyler would always counter with a pretty good argument for their case. It kind of made Gabe feel like a bully because he’d started picking out things that  didn’t really bother him just so he could get Tyler going, but skinny had his own way of almost violently defending them with words.

Gabe could concede to the fact that he could see Tyler as an english major. He was good with words, especially speaking. He wished that he knew what philosophy period Tyler was in so that he could just come sit in on that, because once everything really got down to it, he was sure that Tyler would be a force to be reckoned with in debate. He kind of didn’t want to bump into him in the hall for that exact reason. It seemed like Tyler just always had some sort of venom to spit out just when he needed to and if Gabe were any less annoyed by him, he’d say that it was pretty admirable.

But, apparently, he was wrong.

He was walking down toward where Ryan’s Brit Lit class was one day when he ran right into Tyler. Literally. It was like in a bad movie. He turned the corner and Tyler wasn’t looking where he was going. Gabe walked right into him.

He was actually fully prepared to tear the person a new one until he’d seen that he’d scattered their papers. And then saw who it was.

At that, he was even more prepared because he figured he had to be with how Tyler reacted to things, but… he did not react the way Gabe had been expecting.

Maybe it was because they were in public and he didn’t want to cause a scene. Maybe it was because he was tired or something. But Tyler just ducked his head, muttering a soft apology. He didn’t even look up to see who he’d run into, and Gabe was a little flabbergasted.

“Tyler.” He said, maybe a little more sharply than he’d really intended to. He wanted answers, though. Why was Ty just accepting that he’d pretty much been thrown to the ground? Gabe was so much bigger than him, tall and somewhat broad, but Tyler hadn’t even put up a fight.

It settled an uneasy feeling into Gabe’s stomach. Ideas were suddenly whirring through his mind of what could be wrong and why he wasn’t fighting back like normal and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to lean down and help or yell. He didn’t like anomalies but it seemed like that was all Tyler was. He was this weird outlier in everything that Gabe just couldn’t figure out no matter how much he wanted to or how much he tried.

He’d spent a lot more time trying than he’d have liked to admit.

“Oh.” Tyler’s voice was still small, and Gabe really didn’t like that. “Sorry, dude. I didn’t see you. I was. kinda just. walking.”

Gabe couldn’t believe that he’d just offered an apology and an excuse for why he’d bumped right into him.

This didn’t seem like the annoying skinny kid knew. This seemed like an entirely different person and it was throwing him for a loop. How was he supposed to know how to react now? He’d seen more vulnerable parts of Tyler when he’d crawled into bed with Josh and curled himself up half under his friend and made himself very small, but Gabe had never seen him actually meek. Even when they got into the biggest arguments and afterward everyone was staring at them, Tyler never responded like that. It made him wonder if everything was okay, but then that just brought up the question of when had he gotten so invested in this little kid’s well being?

That wasn’t entirely true, though, because he didn’t think of him as too much of a kid anymore. It was some odd, in between phase where he didn’t dislike him, but he still didn’t want to like him.

“Dude, are you okay?” It bubbled out of him along with the worry and he couldn’t have stopped it if he tried.

“What, yeah. I’m fine.” Tyler’s voice was still small but he frowned at Gabe in a much more familiar way than he had been. It was relieving, that there didn’t seem to actually be anything wrong. He still wanted to know why the fuck he sounded so small, though.

Well, he was small, but that was beside the point.

“Are you sure because you sound like someone just ate you alive.” He was trying to push buttons now, get Ty to lash back. He wanted that back because it was familiar and not this weird, worrisome tone that kind of made his stomach feel a little heavy.

At least Tyler scowled at him. That was oddly reassuring.

“I told you I’m fine, Gabe.”

It shouldn’t have thrilled him like that when he said his name. This wasn’t going to end well.

“Yeah, okay. You look like someone just punched you in the face without the bruises.”

“Shut up, asshole.” That was better.

“Nope.” He popped the ‘p’, feeling a strange sense of satisfaction when Tyler finally got up and brushed himself off. He fit his papers all back into place and if Gabe had been any less flabbergasted by who it’d been, he’d have offered to help a while ago.

“Don’t be a dick.” Ty shot back, and it seemed more instinctive than anything.

“What even are you.” The phrasing didn’t sound like a question, but it had finally struck him that he didn’t know why Tyler was in a mood. Maybe that’s all it was. Maybe someone had finally put him back into his little, freshman place.

Gabe didn’t want to think too hard on why that train of thought actually bothered him. Nor did he wanted to think about the sudden urge to find whoever this maybe person was and put them into their own place back where they belonged. Preferably away from Tyler.

“Tyler Joseph.” Gabe hoped that he looked half as unimpressed with that answer as he felt, because that was just ridiculous.

“Seriously?” His tone was definitely flat enough to convey exactly how impressed he’d been.

“Do I have to tell you not to be a dick again?” There was still a note of something quieter in his voice, but Gabe was kind of glad to have him speaking like himself again. At least, himself as Gabe knew him.

Which, if he thought about it, wasn’t really that well. Gabe knew Josh better than he knew Tyler. The most information he had on him, personally, was that he was from the same high school as Josh and that they were best friends and-- probably-- fucking. At least, he could believe it if they were. He’d kind of had that feeling about them since the first time they slept in Josh’s bed together, because they had crammed into each other’s space as soon as they were laying down, Tyler’s head tucked under Josh’s chin as they held the other close. It was a weird kind of friendship that maybe he was a little jealous of.

“Maybe you do.” He wanted to coax more of the Tyler he knew out, because the realization that he didn’t really know him outside of arguments and some of the things he liked had kind of set a weird feeling into the pit of his stomach again. He didn’t want to think too hard on it.

“I can’t right now, because I have to get to class.”

“You’re such a fucking freshman.” Gabe laughed, a little more assured by the way they were arguing like normal that nothing bad had actually happened to him. They were close, technically, which Gabe had realized, but they were close enough that Gabe would start to call him something like a friend in a few more weeks. If they kept talking, which he didn’t foresee that stopping in the near future.

“And you’re such a fucking dick.” Tyler punctuated it with a roll of his eyes and there was the Ty that Gabe knew. The skinny kid that shot fire back at him when no one else would bother. It was refreshing, and he really liked arguing with him for it.

He’d probably be a little upset if he lost his arguing buddy, because Ryan would only take so much before he stopped fighting back and just went ‘Okay, Gabe. Sure, Gabe.’ and refused to put up any more fight. Tyler was a little spitfire that always had something to say to him and his dumb ass.

He could admit that he was a dumbass, but not that he was… fond. Yeah, fond of Tyler.

Something like that.

“I’m not being a Richard.” He couldn’t stop the smile creeping onto his face. It seemed like he couldn’t stop a lot of things when Tyler was around, but he hadn’t decided yet if that was a good or bad thing.

“Oh my god.” He sounded so exasperated that Gabe just had to grin. “Seriously, I have to go.” He cast a look at his phone, clutched tight in hand.

That was probably why they’d literally run into each other. Neither had been paying attention to where they were going, and Tyler seemed to be in more of a hurry now than he had been.

It hadn’t been a gentle collision either. If there had been more bulk to Tyler, then Gabe was fairly certain that he’d have ended up flat on his ass, too. Wherever he’d been going, the smaller man had been trying to get there in a hurry. Maybe something really was wrong and he just didn’t want to talk about it.

That… also didn’t sit well in Gabe’s stomach.

He couldn’t take this weird up and down feeling much longer. He really had to get out of there.

“You’re a dork.” He said instead, a little reluctant to stop talking to this new side of Tyler. There was a sudden and strange urge to get to know all of the weird sides of him. It was a little off putting, but not enough that he wanted to stop talking to him.

Tyler looked at him kind of like he was crazy. It was nice, in a strange way.

This wasn’t good.

“You’re a dick.”

“I just called you that, you can’t reuse an insult.” Gabe’s smile was smug and he hoped Ty could see just how satisfied he was behind the confusion that absolutely dominated his face.

“What.” Tyler’s tone was suspiciously flat, and Gabe liked the fact that he was probably more trying to hide his confusion than anything.

“Dork. It also means whale penis.”

“I called you a dick first, though.”

“Yeah, but I was more creative about definitions.”

“I do not have time to argue words with you, I’ll be here way too long and I’m already late. Bye, Gabe.” Tyler turned away, huffing and looking like a small, ruffled up bird.

“DORK MEANS PENIS, TYLER!” Gabe shouted, delighted when Tyler ducked further into his jacket.

“Bye Gabe.” He called back, just loud enough to be heard.

“I BET IT’S NOT EVEN A NICE PENIS.”

“BYE GABE.” Now that was more like it. He hoped he’d worked Ty out of whatever funk he’d fallen into with some normality. Even if now they were both late to where they were going.

He was smiling as he texted Ryan that he was running late.

* * *

“Okay but you should have seen his face when I kept yelling after him.” Gabe’s grin hadn’t faded, still wide and amused after regaling his tale of his run in with Tyler to Ryan. For the second time, because he couldn’t seem to stop repeating himself.

“I don’t need to see it. You made the face when you were telling the story the first time.” Ryan’s tone was flat and he was picking at his… Whatever he’d ordered. Gabe couldn’t actually remember.

“I don’t make it nearly as well as he did, though. He kind of looked like he wanted to crawl into his jacket and die, but he was also kind of amused. You could tell.” He insisted, trying to make the face again.

“You don’t have to make the face again. I get it. And you just look constipated.” Ryan pointed at him with his fork, frowning as it didn’t seem to deter Gabe from trying. “Dude. Seriously. Constipated.”

“Tyler didn’t look constipated so I have to fix whatever is making me make the face wrong.”

“Or you could just not talk about Tyler for like ten minutes. At least.”

“What? I don’t talk about him that much.” His face fell a little, melting into his own version of confusion.

“You kind of do. Especially after you’ve just seen him. I could probably count the number of times you text me something involving his name or “that skinny fuck” because you talk about him so much.”

“I do not.”

“You do.”

“Not.”

“Gabe.” Ryan looked like he was just this side of crossing the line into murdering him, so it was probably best to stop antagonizing him.

“... Do not.”

“Jesus, yes you do!” He shouldn’t have gotten so much satisfaction over Ryan nearly throwing his hands up. His voice had definitely gotten louder and now there were several people staring in his direction. He grimaced, ducking his head a little and muttering something that was probably an explicative about Gabe. It took a moment, but he sighed and the tension seemed to go out of him with that little whoosh of air. “You really do, though. All the time. “Tyler and I are fighting about this”, “fucking Skinny is here again and being loud while I’m trying to write this paper”, “how is he double majoring, I can’t even double major”. And if I didn’t know you as well as I do, I’d say you were jealous. But you just have a boner for him.”

Now it was Gabe’s turn to squint at him like he was the one being ridiculous.

“What.” He asked. Sort of.

“You have a boner for Tyler? Is this news to you?” Ryan looked so genuine that… Well, fuck. “Because like I said, dude, if I didn’t know you I’d say you were jealous because it is a little ridiculous that he can double major but he also, like, never sleeps? So really it’s more of a curse, I think. Or maybe that’s just him.”

Gabe sat back, a little dazed and confused, and stared at his food.

He did not have a boner for Tyler.

He didn’t.

… Maybe a tiny one. 

He wasn’t sure how he felt about this revelation. It wasn’t like he was expecting it, but that kind of seemed to be a theme with Tyler. He was never sure what to prepare himself for, because sometimes he noticed that Tyler was a little darker around the edges, frayed and worn down like he had gone through too much life already with not enough sleep. Which, now that that was explained, made sense. He seemed to get all of his sleep crammed into Josh’s bed. And even if Gabe had heard of him sleeping in Jenna’s bed, he’d yet to experience a night when Ryan said he wasn’t in the room they shared that he wasn’t in Josh’s.

It was extraordinarily strange to think about. He was usually so aware of who he wanted to bone, because it was kind of his thing. He could get away with drinking and fucking and being a little bit of a party boy, and the advantage was that he was a relaxed college student with an excuse to act like that. He wasn’t prepared for this. He needed time to prepare for this.

He was not gonna have a crisis over this during lunch with Ryan, though.

He could have a crisis over this when he got back to his dorm, where Josh and probably Tyler would be.

It’d have to be a quiet crisis.

He shifted his food on his plate, his appetite suddenly a little diminished. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it was just so out of left field that he was kind of amazed that he’d missed it. He was usually great at spotting when someone had a thing for him, or when he had a thing for someone else, and he didn’t know how he’d missed this.

It just kind of sucked that he was pretty sure he and Tyler were friendly acquaintances at best. He wouldn’t say frenemies because it was a stupid word, but it fit the situation, too. He scraped his fork along his plate, considering as it screeched and it made Ryan flinch. Good.

Maybe it was just a thing that he’d have to get over, because he didn’t really intend to try and woo Tyler. His confidence in that was a little less than his confidence with most other things. If it were literally anyone else, he’d be perfectly fine with it, but it wasn’t. It was Tyler, and he was a specifically strange case.

“You look like you’re having a midlife crisis.” Ryan’s voice cut through him and reminded him that he was indeed in a restaurant full of people and staring at his plate like it had just cause his minor introspective episode.

“I have a small boner for Tyler.” He admitted. Even if it felt a little like something he shouldn’t just say yet. He kind of wanted his moment to stew over it and get-- not angry, but over it.

He felt like that was what he needed to happen. He needed to get over it because he and Tyler weren’t ‘friends’. There was no chance of them ever getting together if they weren’t even friends.

Unless it was hate sex. But Gabe had mixed feelings on that. He liked the sex, but kind of didn’t like the hate part, because it always felt kinda shitty to know that someone wasn’t actually into you.

That was also a big part of the reason he got drunk before he fucked anyone, usually.

“Yeah, I told you that. I can’t believe you didn’t know.” Genuine concern was edging into Ryan’s tone. That was not okay. Gabe did not want to deal with weird friend feelings and weird boner feelings at the same time because then it just got muddled and he did not want to accidentally think of Ryan the next time he was getting off because of it. He refused.

“You did, and I guess I do. It’s just weird, because we don’t even like each other.”

“He likes you.”

Oh. Oh no. That had the potential to be catastrophic.

“Maybe he tolerates me, but he doesn’t like me.” He countered, that was something safer to think about.

“No, dude. He likes you. He thinks you’re friends.”

“Why do you know that?” He asked, suddenly way more curious than he had been a moment ago and a lot less panicked about wanting to bone Tyler.

“Because he’s my roommate and we talk?” Ryan seemed so confused again. He was such a cute best friend sometimes.

But incredibly convenient right now.

“You talk? About what?”

“Mostly coursework because Tyler is kind of a private guy, but we talk about more stuff when he’s feeling particularly existential. Like that little thing you just did with the plate. He likes you, and he likes fighting with you. It’s why you’re friends.” That made him feel a little warm and fuzzy inside, because Tyler didn’t consider them enemies. They weren’t even stupid frenemies. They were just friends that argued a lot.

He could work with that, if he needed to.

“Why did you not tell me that before you sprung it on me that I have a boner for Ty?”

“Did you really want to use the word sprung right there?”

“Goddamn it, Ryan.” Neither of them could really help but laugh, though. It was nice to take his mind back away from the weird confusion of himself and Ty not being friends but him having a boner for him to them being friends and him having a boner for him.

He wasn’t sure which was worse.

On one hand, there could have been good hate sex that, maybe, made him hate himself a little. On the other, there was the possibility for friends with benefits, and that didn’t seem ideal either.

His face fell a little bit as he realized he wanted to date Tyler.

This wasn’t just a boner. It was a feelings boner.

“Oh fuck.” He blurted out, blinking at Ryan.

“What?”

“I have a feelings boner for Tyler.”

“You’re so dumb sometimes, dude. I know.”

“Shit.” Gabe reached up, raking a hand through his hair in a move that he would have never pulled otherwise. He spent too much time on his hair to fuck it up.

“You’ll be fine. It’s not like you actually have to do anything. You can just wait until your fluttery feelings go away.” Gabe knew he was teasing, but he pretty much hit the nail on the head.

He did not have time for this shit.

It wasn’t long after his epiphany that he and Ryan go their separate ways for the day. They’d meet up again for lunch tomorrow, and Gabe will have to have an answer for him on how he’s going to sort out this whole ‘boner for Tyler’ thing because he really needed an answer.

When he walked into his dorm, he was very unsurprised to see Josh and Tyler there, curled up close on the floor in front of his bed, parked in front of the tv Josh had brought in and gaming on their Nintendo again.

He didn’t say anything to them, but he did notice that now his stomach flipped over itself a little every time Tyler laughed.

Goddamn it, he was so fucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long I've had a ton of problems with this chapter and not being satisfied with it bUT here it is please enjoy.
> 
> The person who proofreads these is the Gabe to my Tyler tho so thank her because without her I would confuse words all over the place because I think too fast to actually write things.


	4. Ode To Sleep.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabe tries to smother some things and ends up just uncovering more.

It wasn’t like it was completely accidental, Gabe avoiding Tyler. It just happened that he wasn’t ready to really admit to himself that he had a giant feelings boner for him. He’d spent the better part of the night that he’d come back after his revelation with Ryan staring-- one could say glaring-- at Tyler and Josh. He wasn’t sure what the worst part was, actually acknowledging that he had a thing for the younger man and not being able to do anything about it, or wanting to go back into denial so that he didn’t have to admit it it. The matter wasn’t helped by the fact that Josh would catch him staring every so often, and when he did he usually got a little quieter, his stare a little colder. Gabe wasn’t sure what that was about, but he knew that it was fucking with his flow of staring at them.

He wanted to get a better read off of Tyler to see if he’d really be as interested as Ryan seemed to think he’d be, but without directly engaging him, Gabe had no way to tell. And it was near impossible to distract him from his “platonic soul mate” once they got started on something. Especially if they were doing something like playing their stupid Nintendo. It was highly unlikely that he’d be able to get either of their attention away from the thing, and even when Mark and Jenna were there, Gabe was amazed that anything at all could.

Mark and Jenna had been coming around less, too, ever since Gabe started glaring at Tyler. He kind of hated it, because that meant that Tyler was there less, and even if Gabe wasn’t ready to confront him about the massive feelings boner, he didn't want him gone either. He wanted to kind of avoid him everywhere but in the confines of their room. It wasn’t even like he was actively avoiding him, they just didn’t have any classes together, and that was the main problem. If they’d had a class together, Gabe could get at him away from his friends and get him into a conversation that didn’t revolve around them or didn’t include them. He could inch toward something flirtatious. He could ease his way into that and then he could find the swing of his charm, because whenever he was around Tyler it just seemed to disappear.

Maybe he needed more practice. He wasn’t used to this, and it could be that that was all he needed. He could practice on some people that didn’t matter. He could just start partying a little harder again, even if he’d wanted to be a little more serious about this semester.

Oh well, it was for the greater good of his feelings boner.

He texted Ryan about it later that night, after Tyler and his friends had filtered out of his room for the night, Josh included. He was kind of curious as to where they went when they weren’t there, because this was where all of them usually conglomerated to have their friend time, and where at least Josh usually slept. He usually had Tyler in his bed,though, and it occurred a little belatedly to Gabe that he might have had such a strong distaste for that because he was jealous. He wanted Tyler in his bed.

Oh, shit. He did want that.

He really needed to stop having slightly emotional revelations about stupid, skinny, double majors. It couldn’t be healthy because the kid wasn’t even that friendly toward him. There was a certain extent of their tolerance, and he wasn’t sure how far that reached, but it seemed to be all he was going to get unless he actively worked to change it.

He was not at all ready to actively work toward changing it. Despite getting jealous over stupid things, and despite the massive flutters that he got when he thought about even the possibility of Tyler liking him back, Gabe couldn’t bring himself to do anything. He wasn’t the type to. This wasn’t what he did. He flirted and he fucked and partied and then he left. He didn’t stick around. He didn’t try to date anyone. This was so out of his depth that he was half tempted to ask Ryan for advice. He never asked Ryan for advice. 

He could definitely text him about a party, though. And there was one the next night. Some house party was happening and Gabe could go to that, pick up a guy. He could practice the flirting techniques that had probably gotten a little rusty in their disuse.

He couldn’t believe he hadn’t been flirting.

He couldn’t believe he kind of had been, though-- with Tyler, of all people.

Fuck, he was stupid. 

* * *

The next day was long. Ryan was in a mood because some other guy had been flirting with the one he had his eye on, so he was no help. Gabe didn’t even see the appeal. The guy Ryan was into was probably Tyler and Josh’s age. He could see the intrigue because the kid played about five hundred different instruments, but otherwise Gabe didn’t really see the point. He was kind of flaky, a little bit of a dick, but he had features that he knew Ryan usually liked-- a big mouth and a nice voice. Their tastes in guys overlapped like that, where Ryan would be smitten with someone with those kind of features and then Gabe would realized that they suited his taste, too. A little bit of jealousy and a strange sense of possessiveness had flared up in his chest when he’d realized that Tyler shared those features.

Ryan knew better, though. Especially after he’d seen the realization dawn over Gabe’s face.

He’d actually been thrown into a laughing fit, and Gabe had pouted for a solid half an hour. But that was beside the point.

At that moment, they had been getting ready for this party. Gabe’s hair was on point and Ryan looked better than usual. He wondered idly if the kid that Ryan liked was gonna be there and then he remembered that that would be the only reason that his friend would put that much effort into his appearance. He was a little bit of a snob about it, but not usually to that extent, and even Gabe had to admit that he looked good. They both did. It wasn’t like they’d necessarily dressed up, but they had made the extra effort to look particularly attractive. They were looking to get some, anyway. It worked.

Ryan had gotten the address from some frat bro who was giving it away to everyone who wanted to party. It was in one of their frat houses, so they would be the ones stuck with clean up. There wouldn’t be any need to worry about having to help, especially if it was in the morning when he’d hopefully be hungover and less sexually frustrated than he was right now.

Actually, it wasn’t even like he was particularly frustrated in that way, he just had eyes for the person who was exactly the person he shouldn’t have been feeling all this over. The thought that Tyler could like him back excited him to no end, and he was a little worried that he was gonna go soft-- emotionally, not his dick-- and he almost didn’t want that. There was a large part of him that was far too accustomed to his current lifestyle. It was familiar and safe, even if the actions themselves weren’t. He didn’t want to want one person, he wasn’t interested in slowing down his partying, or his drinking, or how much fun he had. But Tyler seemed to have this weird effect on him where he wouldn’t mind that. He might even like it, because as infuriating as he was, and as often as they fought, the skinny kid kept him invested in something other than just himself, and that was a rare circumstance that he hadn’t ever expected to encounter. At least not in someone he was interested in.

The air of the street was cold, quiet, but he could hear the thump of the bass, probably shaking the foundation of the house, as they walked down the sidewalk. They’d both been quiet, stuck in their own heads. Gabe knew that Ryan would probably go off to try and find his little freshman as soon as they were inside. He was pretty sure they both shared an interest in weed, so at least there was that, and he would go find himself someone else with a pretty mouth and maybe skinny enough to pass off, drunkenly, as the person at the center of his problem.

Maybe ‘problem’ wasn’t the right word to use, but he didn’t know if ‘situation’ sounded right either. He rolled them all around in his head, contemplating as he stepped up to the porch. They were greeted with the heat of the party, bodies pressed close together, writhing and dancing, out on the floor. There were the telltale smells of weed and sweat, the sway of alcohol in the way people walked, and Gabe fell right back into place here. This was his environment, his place to shine, and at least he knew that.

He slid in between two people, walking sideways and guiding them out of his way with gentle nudges against their shoulders. There was a grin plastered to his face, teeth biting into the inside of his cheek as he winked his way past people, the effect instant as they moved out of his way, their eyes scanning him up and down appreciatively. He could revert right back to the person that he would call himself much more readily than he would any other face he put on. This was the charmer, the one who could get his way into anyone’s pants with ease. And, oh, it was good to be back.

There was already a boy he’d scoped out. He wasn’t quite like Tyler, but his mouth was nice and his eyes were dark, and that was all Gabe really needed to close his eyes and pretend that it was him. As unhealthy as he could admit to that being, not to mention a little obsessive, it held the most appeal. He didn’t want just anyone, he wanted someone like Tyler so that he could practice this new idea of flirting-- the kind with the intent to follow through. Even if that wouldn’t be happening tonight.

He glided along the wall, a drink already in hand, and into the kitchen. The kitchen was always where they kept the good shit, and he wasn’t disappointed to find shots already laid out in droves. He wasn’t sure which were which, or what kind of alcohol was in any of them, but that wasn’t really the point of the neither either. This was to prove to himself that he still had it in him to do something like this and then he could sort of settle into the idea of pursuing Tyler. It’d be simple enough.

Gabe downed four shots in one go, earning a holler from someone nearby that it was in the spirit of the party, and he smiled to himself. It was all in good fun and he’d developed enough of a tolerance that it wouldn’t even be too bad until much later. He’d be hungover no matter how drunk he got, but this was the fun part for now. He felt the heat in his cheeks, but knew he wasn’t flushing just yet. It was just the first of many effects that he’d be feeling, except he only really wanted to drink tonight, uninterested in any other substances that could have been floating around. He took his drink back out into the crowd, zeroing back in on the person he’d scoped out for the evening.

It was easy enough to get to him and he slipped seamlessly back into the throng of people, dancing his way through the crowd and over. The kid was shorter than him, obviously, with mousy blonde hair and big, dark brown eyes. He didn’t look nearly as tired as Tyler did, but the alcohol was already having the added effect of drawing the bags out from under his eyes. He wasn’t wasted, which was comforting, because Gabe wasn’t one to take advantage.

“Hey,” he spoke above the crowd. He moved easily with him, matching the rhythm that the kid had, by watching the way he was dancing, and Gabe synced himself up to it. There was very little resistance, and that was a good sign. He conformed to the way that Gabe moved, too, the motion automatic in the way that it happened in clubs more often than not.   that seeking out sentence still bothers me.

“Hi.” The blonde kid’s voice was deeper than he’d expected, and it threw him for a loop for a second before he regained his composure, his cool.

It was much easier to keep cool after that and between drinks and flirting much more subtle than Gabe was used to, he’d convinced the guy to stick around a little while longer. He was careful about it, though, not wanting to push too much or to press where he wasn’t supposed to. It was slower, gentler, than his usual almost aggressive tactics. And he kind of liked it. He enjoyed the way a blush darted across the guy’s cheeks as he spoke, placed a hand at the small of his back and guided him along toward the kitchen. He could make them drinks that were something less potent than what they were already downing, and that way they’d both have clearer heads when they finally got down to hooking up -- which Gabe wasn’t even unsure of whether or not it was happening anymore. There was a certain moment when he was flirting with someone at a party where he always knew they’d accepted, and would enjoy, the idea of hooking up with him. It was incredibly useful because it wasn’t a skill many people had, and he celebrated it with another drink, and then dropped a lazy kiss onto the guy’s mouth.

It was sloppy, as they were both drunk, but it was a little less so, slower on Gabe’s part. He wanted to make sure he got this right and didn’t really want to rush just yet. Even if he’d almost kicked into autopilot, his body familiar with the motions that came next and what would happen even after that. The kiss was responded to eagerly, the alcohol making it worse for wear, but not really making it bad. At least he’d picked someone who could kiss. That was always a plus.

“We should go somewhere,” the blonde said, and Gabe was surprised that he wasn’t the one being openly forward. Maybe it was better that way, though, because he didn’t have to deal with the awkward task of asking. He liked how blunt this was and an easy smile ticked its way onto his face, notch by notch.

“Yeah, we should,” he slung an arm low around his waist and it tickled at the back of his mind that he’d accidentally chosen someone bulkier than Tyler. He shouldn’t have even been thinking of it, because honestly that wasn’t what mattered right now. All that mattered was the rest of this going smoothly and then he could have one more under his belt and he could try this thing he wanted to with Tyler.

They dragged themselves toward the stairs, both stumbling a little as the blonde pulled at Gabe’s jacket, trying to get him out of it. It wasn’t until they were in someone’s room that it sort of hit him that he didn’t actually want to fuck this guy. They could fool around, but he really wasn’t in the mood to fuck anyone.

Well, that might have been a lie, but the alcohol was clouding his judgment already.

They tumbled into bed anyway and Gabe got his hands into the guy’s pants. The alcohol in their systems seemed to have flagged the guy down enough that this would probably be all he needed, because he was already curling in, leaning up into Gabe’s neck and panting out how good it was. He’d reached into his pants and pulled them away so easily that it almost seemed like he could pretend this was someone else, because honestly this guy didn’t matter. He wouldn’t in the long run and he wouldn’t after tonight, so what difference did it make if Gabe didn’t want to fuck. He bit at the guy’s neck as he jacked him off.

Whiskey dick didn’t seem to be in his favor, but the fact that the guy was a sensitive drunk did. He came after a few minutes, Gabe’s hand starting to get fatigued. He was glad that the guy wasn’t the fall right to sleep type, though, because Gabe rolled them over and smiled up at him.

The smile he was met with wasn’t quite shy, but it was a bit less confident. Before he’d cum, the guy had almost been too confident but this was easier-- and as much as he knew he shouldn’t have, he could pretend this was Tyler now. There still wasn’t much preamble, though. Not like how he pictured Tyler doing this.

Fuck, now he was gonna end up picking up on all the differences between this and the little fantasies he kept close to his chest.

Shit.

The guy pulled Gabe’s pants down, away from his hips. Then there were lips around his cock and he was a little distracted, but not enough. He twisted his fingers into his hair, tilting his hips up just the slightest degree. He had more hair than Tyler did and Gabe wondered if he would be able to find as much grip in his. The thought had him biting back a noise, his lip feeling the tension of his teeth digging in as he pictured Tyler’s head down near his hips instead of a mess of blonde. He mourned the fact that he didn’t know the slope of Tyler’s shoulder from his angle, but he knew his mouth, his face, and his eyes.

This wasn’t good.

He could almost picture it, almost see Tyler’s lips stretched around his dick, his head bobbing, instead of this guy, and Tyler’s name was on the tip of his tongue, threatening to slip out in a moan as he rocked his hips up.

He arched up the mattress a little as the guy dipped his head down, swallowing slightly around Gabe’s dick and-- oh.

“Fuck, Tyler.” He said as he came, a moan wrapping around the words as they yanked themselves out of him. It wasn’t until he noticed the guy sitting up, nowhere near him, that he realized what he’d even done. “Shit, I’m sorry--” He started, but the guy was already standing up, shoving his clothes back on half angrily and looking more pissed than Gabe had ever seen one of his one night stands.

He kind of deserved the guy throwing his phone back at him from the floor.

Actually, he definitely did.

He laid there another moment before he got himself dressed again, tucking his dick back into his underwear and pulling up his pants. He made himself look mostly presentable again, avoiding looking directly at anyone as he went down to the kitchen again.

He did four more shots and then staggered back to his dorm, collapsing into bed heavily. 

* * *

The next thing Gabe really knew, he was waking up to knocking. He scrubbed a hand over his face, pulling his phone out from under his pillow and checking the time. He’d missed his classes for that day, but he didn’t really care. He’d had enough of a night, and with the less than spectacular ending, he hadn’t really been too excited to face anyone-- especially not Tyler. God, anyone but Tyler would have been the best option because he’d been too wrapped up in the skinny fuck to have a good time getting off and  he’d messed even that up.

He was so fucked.

Gabe only vaguely remembered waking up earlier that day. He’d had to change out of last night’s clothes, slipping into pyjamas in the form of sweats and no shirt, the sweats hanging low on his hips. He rolled out of bed to answer it, dreading having to face them, especially if it was Ryan. His best friend always had an uncanny way of knowing exactly when not to bother him, and then bothering him at precisely those times. And the fucker always knew exactly what was wrong just by looking at his face, too. It was an annoying habit that he had, but sometimes it worked out in Gabe’s favor, so he wasn’t going to completely condemn it. He was fully expecting a faceful of coffee when he opened it and was prepared to tell Ryan off. His mouth was already open when he swung the door open with a clang.

Of fucking course it wasn’t Ryan.

It had to be Tyler.

He flinched at the noise and Gabe could see that he looked a little more ruffled than normal. Somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered if he’d slept, because the bags under his eyes had turned a shade darker and his fingers twitched more than usual. And then he remembered that it had been shit like this that had gotten him so distracted that now he was hungover and he hadn’t even had a good hookup. So he just glared at him, nothing that Tyler wouldn’t be used to as of late.

“The fuck do you want, Skinny.” His voice didn’t inflect like it was a question, and he saw the hesitation cross the younger’s face.

“I, uhm. Josh said you were here and he said that I-- that I could sleep in here?” Tyler’s voice tilted upward like the question that Gabe’s should have and his own shouldn’t have.

He really didn’t want to take pity on him, wanted to make him pay a little bit for accidentally ruining his night, but he couldn’t do that. God, they weren’t even a thing and he was already a little whipped.

“Do you make noise?” He snapped instead, his head throbbing behind his temples. The lights were getting on his nerves.

“I-- what? No. I hardly even move.”

“Then get the fuck in here and go to sleep.”

That seemed to be all Tyler needed, because the next second he was scrambling inside and Gabe closed the door behind him. He realized as Tyler set his bag down that this was the first time they’d been alone in the room together.

“Why aren’t you in your own bed?” He was already climbing back into his bed, pointedly ignoring the venomous jealousy in his chest when Tyler got into Josh’s, curling in on himself and inhaling deeply.

“I don’t sleep well in mine.”

“Okay, then stay quiet.”

He didn’t get a response, but he was out in the next five minutes away, turning his back to Tyler’s instead of watching him try to sleep.

Unfortunately for him, he was woken up again about an hour later by Josh practically storming the door. At least, that’s what it felt like. He groaned, throwing an arm up over his eyes as Josh’s voice filled the air.

“Ty, why aren’t you asleep?” His voice was laced with a familiar concern, like he dealt with this often. “How’s your headache? God, you have to learn to take care of yourself.”

“You’re not his mother,” Gabe snapped out, the maliciousness and jealousy firing up something behind his eyelids that made everything green and toxic.

“I’m as good as his mom when I’m here.” There was a muffled ‘Josh, that’s weird’ from under the blanket, but Gabe just rolled his eyes, reaching into the drawer of his nightstand and pulling out a bottle of ibuprofen.

“Here,” he said as he tossed it onto the bed. “Take one of these and go the fuck to sleep.” He heard the rattle of the pill bottle and then Tyler’s voice, much softer and smaller than Josh’s already pulling guilt at his heartstrings.

“I can’t take these.”

“Then fucking suffer.” It was easier to be mean, easier to default to. Especially when he was hungover and the person he was  over the fucking moon for was curled in a bed in his room with another guy.

“Thanks, I do,” Tyler’s reply was dry and that just set Gabe off.

“You’re such a fucking emo shit can’t you just get over it and take a goddamn pill for it?”

The whole room went silent all at once, and Josh’s face suddenly filled his vision. It was full of anger and disgust in a way that Gabe had never seen it before and he realized he’d probably crossed a line. And yet…

“What the fuck is your problem?”

“You,” Josh’s voice was hard, something with a colder edge than Gabe had ever heard it and his gaze flickered down to see Tyler flinch again, burying himself further into Josh.

He decided he didn’t care.

“Fuck you, dude, I’m not the one who told my friend that they could come sleep in their room with their hungover roommate,” He watched Josh’s chest move, his face distort with something ugly and almost just as angry as Gabe himself was feeling, but then Tyler was pushing up off the mattress.

His bags seemed even darker than before.

“Stop fighting, it’s fine, I’ll just leave,” he babbled out all in one breath. He stumbled to get up, grabbing his bag with twitching fingers and breezing out the door like he hadn’t just been the subject, and in the middle of, a fight.

Gabe just kept glaring at Josh, watching as the punk kid threw his pills back to his side of the room and leapt out of bed.

“Fuck you, Gabe,” he said as he left.

Papers fluttered to the floor out from under the blanket and then Gabe realized that Tyler hadn’t slept at all the time that he’d been in the room. Even as tired as he’d looked, he hadn’t been able to sleep, and Gabe’s stomach lurched with regret as soon as he came to that conclusion.

Tyler hadn’t tried to sleep. He’d been writing.

Gabe got up, picking up the piece of paper with the intention of maybe crumpling it up and shoving it onto Josh’s desk because he didn’t have the heart to throw it away. Even with as pissed as he was, he wasn’t that mean. The title caught his eye at the last second, though.

‘Migraine,’ it read, and he skimmed it over, his stomach sinking a little more with every word.

Oh, he’d just royally fucked up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My Gabe got an ao3 so you can probs expect more regular updates tbh.


	5. Migraine.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabe didn't actually mess up that badly.

Holding on to Migraine had probably been one of the more selfish decisions that Gabe had made. He just didn’t see a point in returning it just yet. Ever since he’d been the biggest dick on the planet, not even Josh had been in their shared room long enough for him to return it. He’d taken to spending all of his time devoted to Ryan again. There were no more invites to hang out with the foursome that included Tyler and Josh and he was pretty sure he’d seen Jenna stalking about making sure that he didn’t get within a fifty foot radius of her skinny friend.

Gabe wasn’t even sure that he and the little group were friends anymore.

It had opened up a pit in his stomach that clawed at his insides, at the bottoms of his ribs and into the space below his stomach. It was a vortex of perpetually pissy and illogically hopeful. He wanted them to come back, he wanted to see their dumb faces again, even if it was just in a friendly manner. He’d liked having friends other than Ryan, even if Jenna scared him a little bit and even if Mark was weird and kind of gave him an off putting vibe, even if Josh had always been a little hostile and overprotective of Tyler, he’d been warming up to Gabe and all of those things had warmed something  in  Gabe that had him missing his friends. At least, he’d thought they were his friends, but he knew that he was the new one to the group, the odd one out, that they would protect Tyler from him being a dick and cut him off like a diseased limb before they ever even let him think about accidentally aggravating an issue like that again.

He never really ran into Mark or Jenna just on campus, but he was starting to see Tyler around more and more. He wasn’t sure if that was his own wishful thinking or if the younger really wasn’t avoiding him as much as he seemed to be-- as much as his friends seemed to be. It helped with the new pit of loneliness that had taken hold.

He’d always poured all of his attention into Ryan knowing that they would always have each other, but then there had been other people, and he’d warmed up to them just as much. Even if he was the odd one out, instead of how Tyler probably felt in everyday situations on his own, it was nice. They were a tight knit little group and he liked being included in it.

He liked having friends, he supposed. Even if he’d never liked having real friends before, he’d liked fitting into this little group and finding a place among them, and he missed them.

He really needed to find a way to apologize. 

 

* * *

Ryan was hung up like fuck on Brendon, because the other had been all over some other guy.

Gabe finally understood why Ryan got so upset when he saw Tyler and Josh together on campus, both all smiles and hanging off of each other.

He definitely understood jealousy now.

And pining.

 

* * *

After a week, he was pretty sure that Tyler wasn’t coming back.

It hurt more than it should have.

 

 

* * *

The problem was that there honestly wasn’t much Gabe had found that he could do to fix the situation of, oh, just him fucking up absolutely everything. Josh hated him now, was hardly even in the room long enough for Gabe to see him. That made apologizing and asking to apologize to Tyler virtually impossible. If he couldn’t see either of them at all, let alone for a long enough time to get a word in, then his massive feelings boner for Tyler was fucked. He wanted to apologize for being a dick, of course, but being without that motivation made the entire act a little less appealing, because he was kind of a dick. He’d even gone to Ryan for advice and been told that he was an idiot. He should never have gone out that night and the feeling of regret that settled in his bones was unfamiliar. He wasn’t used to feeling badly about his hookups, especially since they usually didn’t have an ulterior motive like this one had. He’d just wanted to practice so that he could woo Tyler. But now there was no Tyler to woo. 

The skinny fuck hadn’t been back to the room since then and Gabe was getting increasingly worried that he’d never have the chance to apologize at all-- never have the chance to be forgiven or the chance to be with Tyler how he wanted to be. Josh had been somewhat slowly taking out Tyler’s things, and he couldn’t stand this. It wasn’t until after Halloween that he really even saw Tyler again. He came out into his room and found the freshman sitting up on Josh’s bed, writing furiously into a notebook as he seemed to have the tendency to. He looked even more worn down than the last time Gabe had seen him, and worry ate at his stomach despite the fact that it wasn’t really his place to be so concerned. He still wanted it to be, though. He wanted to be one of the very few people that Tyler trusted because the guilt he felt over the last time they’d talked had only started gnawing more and more and he wanted to fix it, wanted to make them better.

“Hey,” he said tentatively, closing the door behind him slowly with a soft click as it latched into place. It seemed to echo in the silence that ebbed up as Tyler looked at him. He hadn’t been sure how badly he’d messed up, but judging by the younger’s face, Gabe’s fuck up didn’t seem to be as colossal as he’d feared.

“Hey dude,” Tyler greeted him in the same smaller, subdued voice that Gabe had first encountered the day that he’d bumped into him and it knotted his stomach. He wasn’t sure if it was because of him or not but the worry settled back in and it felt it deeply.

“What are you writing?” The question itself was innocent enough to pass off as small talk, but Gabe knew better than Tyler did what he was really asking. He’d found ‘Migraine’ and he knew, almost immediately, that things like that were why Tyler was perpetually writing. No one could just write something like that without having felt it first hand, and Gabe wanted to help him chase away whatever demons clawed at the inside of his head in the dark. He wanted to be the one who stole him away from the shadows and smoothed things over so that he could breathe again. He wanted to take him right out from under Josh in the night while they were all three trying to sleep and he wanted to be the one Tyler allowed to murmur comfort to him.

He was so absolutely, colossally fucked.

“I’m trying to rewrite something I lost.” A look passed over Tyler’s face like he’d suffered a greater loss than just a piece of paper and Gabe frowned before realization dawned on him. He was missing the page that Gabe had tucked away on his desk in a safe place. And he hadn’t even thought to scour the room to find it. That warmed something in Gabe that he hadn’t really been expecting, but then again Tyler was always defying expectation.

“Uh, was it maybe called ‘Migraine’?” He was anticipating some kind of backlash because he hadn’t given it back, but he had never seen Tyler’s face light up like that. The younger man leapt off of the bed like he was jumping up because someone had told him that Taco Bell was giving out free tacos.

“Yeah, dude have you seen it, you didn’t throw it away right because I might cry if you did.” He’d said it all in one breath, the words slurring together excitedly as his expression kept skipping around to match the tone of his voice-- from overly excited to very concerned to almost angry. It was a little worrying, but that was fine. It was endearing in a strange sort of way that left Gabe feeling fonder than he should have. 

“What? No, of course I didn’t throw it away,” he figured it was best to reassure Tyler of that before anything else. He was a little hurt by the implication that he would just throw something like that away, but then he considered that this was Tyler, who was nervous about everything all the time, and he let it slide. “It’s on my desk, I wasn’t sure whose it was and your crew have been avoiding me lately.” A look like an apology passed over Tyler’s face and Gabe wondered for a moment if it hadn’t been Josh who’d been the one to give the word to avoid him. It hurt more than it should have.

“Sorry about that. My friends are… weird,” he shrugged, slowly melting back into shy Tyler. “But dude, you have ‘Migraine’, I’m so happy. Can I have it back?”

“Yeah, I mean, it is yours,” he went over to his desk, lifting the heavy philosophy text book that they had yet to really need. He’d flattened it back out, smoothed over the rough edges on the page and softened them down. It was in better shape now than it had been when he’d found it and he took it out of its hiding place almost reverently. He’d be sad to see it go. He’d enjoyed reading it and the little insight he got into Tyler’s mind. It wasn’t his to keep, though, and so he handed it back over, watching the younger man’s face soften as he ran his fingers over the page.

He  really  wanted to kiss him.

“Thank you,” Tyler’s voice was quiet again and Gabe was so, so smitten.

“No problem. Uh, was that why you were so tired?” He didn’t know where the courage to ask came from, because he’d turned into something of a coward recently, avoiding Josh almost as much as he was being avoided. “The last time that I saw you, I mean. You had a migraine?”

“Oh, yeah. I kind of get them a lot. It all depends on my, uhm… Stuff. That I’ve got going on.” It wasn’t the full truth but Gabe wasn’t going to pry. Not when this was the first time they’d spoken in two weeks. 

“I’m sorry if I made it worse. I was just being a dick because I was hungover and had a headache.” Tyler just waved him off, eyes still scanning over his own page.

“It’s fine. I got this out of that so it was alright.” Gabe thought back to the words and felt a little sick. It had been a Monday, because the party had been on a Sunday night, which had been strange, all things considered. Sundays were apparently Tyler’s worst days, and Gabe had probably made his Monday just as much of a hell, considering he’d only aggravated the younger's migraine and then been a complete dick.

Fuck, now he understood why Tyler’s friends hated him.

“I’m still sorry,” he tried to assure him. He could understand why Tyler’s friends didn’t like him anymore, and why they never came around, but he didn’t want Tyler to hate him. He still had entirely selfish motivations for wanting the younger man not to hate him, but maybe if he worked toward just being friends with him first, then he could eventually talk to him about that. Maybe.   
Someday.   
“Dude, it’s fine. My friends are just ridiculous because they’ve, uh, dealt with me a lot longer than most people have.” Gabe knew better than to really question that at the moment, so he was letting it slide. He’d figure it out later, though, and then he’d eventually get answers as to who Tyler even was. This face that he’d put up with Gabe apparently wasn’t just a face, it was just a part of the younger man that came out when he was comfortable with someone, and that made something in Gabe’s chest expand, and he felt like maybe he really hadn’t fucked this up too badly. “Hey.” Tyler’s voice was still kind of quiet, and a little shy, and Gabe still really wanted to kiss him.

Not good. No, Gabe. No.

“Do you wanna watch Teen Wolf with me?” That was not at all what Gabe had been expecting.

“What.”

“Teen Wolf. The show about teenage werewolves?”

“No I just. What?”

“Just watch with me.”

“Fine.”

He couldn’t say no to that face.

 

* * *

Teen Wolf, as it turned out, was Tyler’s guilty pleasure.

He was way too invested in all of the different characters, spewing out facts and spoilers and then apologizing immediately for it.

It was really cute.

“All I’m saying,” Gabe frowned at he clicked to the next episode. “Is that Scott is dumb as fuck.”

“I’ll give you that but how can you hate him?” Tyler looked genuinely offended and Gabe had to wonder how they’d managed to get through over half a season of a dumb MTV show without all of his brain cells dying.

As it had turned out, though, this was perfect. Josh was conveniently out, and had said that if Tyler really wanted to, then he could use his and Gabe’s room to write. He hadn’t known when Gabe would be back and Gabe thanked his lucky stars for that. His not-date dinner date with Ryan had been cut short when the other had gotten a text from his current lover boy-- his theater major, Brendon, who still seemed to flirt with other guys and Gabe was gonna punch him for that and who Ryan was writing emo poetry about and waxing poetic on the subject of.

Josh had been called away from Tyler for a similar reason, as he’d found out during their Teen Wolf marathon. There turned out to be a reason for his freshly cut and dyed mohawk, and the reason was a girl. Gabe was a little impressed, he had to say. She was a theater major like Brendon was, with a raspy voice and a very Disney hipster aesthetic. Her name was Debby and Tyler didn’t seem to mind having to share his time with Josh. Gabe had not taken kindly to Ryan having to split his time up, a little jealous at losing his friend and losing all of his attention after having it for so long. Tyler was a better man than he-- even if he would never admit to the fact--  if he could handle what had felt to Gabe like a rejection. Even if he wasn’t romantically interested in Ryan, as they both well knew, he was still a little possessive of his friends, and he was fairly certain that it showed in the way his face turned into a controlled scowl whenever Brendon was around.

Tyler seemed to be taking it in stride, but Gabe wasn’t really too sure. He’d been utterly convinced, along with probably everyone else, that Tyler harbored some sort of feelings for Josh. The more he found out about them, the more it just seemed obvious that there was something there that wasn’t strictly platonic. It made the jealousy that ate at him rear its ugly head, even if for the moment, Gabe was the one he’d ended up cuddled up to.

He wasn’t really sure how it’d ended up with Tyler’s head on his shoulder, one arm looped around the smaller’s shoulders, the other down near the laptop they were watching the show from. He supposed that it was just the natural progression of movement so that they were both comfortable and so that they could both see. He liked it, though, and he didn’t want it to stop any time soon. Tyler was small against his side, tucked up into him and idly toying with the seam of his jeans at the outer edge. Gabe wasn’t sure that it was something he was doing out of nerves or if he just constantly needed to be doing something, but he kind of thought maybe it was a bit of both. He’d seen the rapid twitches that sometimes ran down Tyler’s spine, shaking his shoulders and making his fingers spasms along with his neck. It was kind of terrifying, the first time, but he’d seen it enough times now that he wasn’t too concerned. Even if that in and of itself was probably cause for concern, that he didn’t worry about his friend twitching anymore.

Gabe had always been curious about what spurred the younger to move like that, and he could see that it trickled down from the intensity he’d seen it-- and he assumed it got worse than that, too-- to this. There were little shakes down the younger’s spine that had him shuddering into Gabe, if only for a moment, and that sent his imagination running. It wasn’t even anything absolutely inappropriate. It was just things like he wondered what he could do to get the small shakes to stop. He wondered if a tight hug was enough to make him calm enough to relax, to not spasm quite like that. Or if it’d take something more. The thought of someone restraining him to make him stop crossed his mind, but it made him a little sick to think about again, so he turned back to Teen Wolf.

“He’s just stupid. He’s throwing everything away for some girl that he doesn’t even know even though he was just bitten by a werewolf and he’s making all these stupid decisions and he’s just fucking dumb. He’s selfish and ridiculous and I’ve seen no redeeming qualities.”

Tyler was definitely frowning at him.

It was definitely really cute.

“You’ll love him eventually. Hopefully.” There was a waver of doubt in his voice and Gabe smiled smugly to himself. He really didn’t think he’d end up liking Scott, because as much as he usually did end up liking whatever and whoever Tyler and his friends recommended, Scott McCall was not high on his list of things he thought he could find redeeming qualities in. “He really grows into himself,” Tyler continued, and Gabe slipped his hand up a little higher on Tyler’s shoulder from his arm, watching the little shiver run through him as his fingertips over the skin on his neck, just barely. “He’s a really lovable dumbass, really.” Tyler sank into his side a little, and Gabe smiled a little more.

“I really don’t think so, but I’ll drop it so we can watch.”

“Good.” Tyler huffed as he relaxed into Gabe’s side again, he’d gotten a little puffed up over it, and Gabe wondered just how far gone Tyler was for Scott.

It made him a little jealous again, especially when Tyler kept saying that he and Josh were like Stiles and Scott.

Good thing Gabe was low key into Derek and Stiles together, because then Tyler started calling him Derek-- tall, dark, handsome, and brooding.

“Damn it, Tyler.” Gabe groaned, but he was definitely laughing.

He really like this, it was nice. He was pretty sure with the weird depth of feeling, he’d want this all the time.

He knew he couldn’t have that, though, so it left a sort of bitter taste in his mouth. Something like he’d just taken a huge chug of too hot coffee, because it burned, too. It burned because he knew that he wouldn’t be able to do anything about his crush yet, even though now Tyler was calling him Derek, and making a bunch of references to the relationship that was implied between the two characters in the show.

God, he was jealous of fictional characters now. Awesome.

They slammed through half a season of this dumb show together, and Tyler ended up dozing slightly in his bed. This was something that Gabe had pictured a hundred times despite his lack of desire to do that in the past with anyone else, and he realized a little late, as Tyler’s head lay on his shoulder, that Tyler was his first crush in a long time-- probably since high school.

Oh, he was so fucked.

“Hey,” he murmured softly, Tyler’s hair tickling at his nose as he turned in to talk to him.

“Mmm, what.” Was all he got, the smaller dipping his face a little more into Gabe’s neck. His breath was warm and fanned out against Gabe’s neck, and it made his hair stand on end. This situation was actually much more intimate than he realized, and he wondered how Josh dealt with being this close to Tyler all the time without kissing him, because that was all Gabe could think of what he wanted to do. He didn’t want to get Tyler out of his bed, but he was pretty sure no one, Tyler included, would appreciate just letting him stay. He could carry him over to Josh’s, but he wasn’t sure if or when the other would be back, and then came the issue of hopefully not waking Tyler up too much that he didn’t go back to sleep tonight.

This was a dilemma. Gabe really wanted him to stay, but he didn’t think he could keep him.

Damn it.

“You gotta get up and go to bed in your own room, skinny.” He combed his fingers through Tyler’s hair, just taking that slight liberty for himself. The younger shifted in his arms, and Gabe’s heart ached a little. He’d been starved for contact, and then something as intimate as this was happening, and he couldn’t believe his luck.

Maybe he was still dreaming and he didn’t even know. Damn, that would have seriously sucked.

It wasn’t, though, because he felt Tyler move. He felt the rise and fall of his chest, inhaling deeply and letting it all out in an elongated sigh, and then he felt his hand press harder against the center of his chest, pushing his face and shoulders up off of Gabe, using him as an anchor point. Gabe splayed his hand out in the space between Tyler’s shoulder blades, helping to steady him, but also trying to keep as much of the contact that he was losing as possible.

“Yeah.” Tyler’s voice was scratchy and sleep heavy, and it hurt Gabe’s heart it was so cute. “Yeah, okay, I’m up.” He stretched, and Gabe wanted to run his mouth along the small expanse of skin that had been bared, bite his teeth into it and leave a mark that left everyone thinking Tyler was his, but he didn’t have that kind of authority. He didn’t have that kind of claim over Tyler. No matter how much he wanted it.

He rolled out from under the younger man as he moved to get up, not wanting to do something stupid like reach out and try to keep him from leaving. That would have just been dumb.

“We should do this again sometime, dude. I like having you as my Teen Wolf buddy.” Tyler’s voice was still soft and sleepy, and Gabe reached out to smooth the blankets out where he’d been so that he wouldn’t have to think too hard about how he’d colossally messed up, fixed it so much in a night that Tyler had been sleeping there, and now he was leaving. Because Tyler leaving was the last thing he wanted to happen.

“Yeah, man. Totaly. Just text me or something, I know you’ve got my number, you just forgot it for two weeks.” He hadn’t meant to let slip the little bout of bitterness, but he wanted to take it back just as soon as he realized what his brain to mouth filter had missed out on omitting.

He blinked at Tyler for a long second, his mouth hanging open slightly. And then Tyler started to laugh.

“Yeah, I guess so, but I was pretty sure you hated me, dude.” The younger shrugged, and that was that. Gabe thought that maybe he’d made it back into the circle he’d never wanted to be a part of, but missed sorely now that it was gone, in one easy motion.

He showed Tyler to the door, lingering and watching him walk down the hall as he left.

He definitely needed to talk to Ryan about this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At long last... I finished it, and Gabe edited it.  
> Hopefully next time there won't be as long of a wait.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a two-for with this being Gabe's pov and the companion fic to this being Tyler's. All of Gabe's titles are gonna be Pilots songs/covers they've done. I'm using the songs more for the titles and less for the actual content and meanings most of the time.  
> I just happened to have started with Gabe's pov so that's what's up first.
> 
> There are gonna be some other randomly assorted pairings in here but I'll probably tag them as they come because honestly I've got 10k of this written already but it's out of order.


End file.
